When Leonardo da Vinci began conceptualizing his flying machine, he initially took the "flapping approach", which mimicked the way a bat or a sparrow flew; his attempt was unsuccessful. It was not until Kathryn Janeway suggested that he should base it on the hawk, that his idea finally took off: "a creature that glides through the air." (VOY: "Scorpion")

Alan Sims was responsible for hiring the trained hawk that swooped down and attacked Neelix in the episode "Tattoo". "Instead," recalled Sims, "the hawk spotted a crow and went off after it in the opposite direction. It took hours to find him. The delay was a nightmare." (Star Trek 30 Years, p. 46)